Urban Sustainability in the Age of Digital Nomads - Diverse Group Impacts

Abstract

Digital nomads are a whole new group of people empowered by digital information technology, and although they have a subtle impact on urban change, little attention has been paid to the impact on different urban groups with the influx of digital nomads. The aim of this paper is to examine how the increase in the number of digital nomads in recent years has affected different urban groups in the context of the broader goal of sustainable urban development. The case study comes from the Digital Nomad Commune in Anji, China, and through the literature research method, the urban groups are divided into: digital nomads, profit-driven locals and negatively affected locals, analyzing the various phenomena presented by different groups of people, such as the promotion of local economic development, cultural exchange and cultural diversity by the emergence of digital nomads, the pressure on the price of goods in the neighbouring towns and the irreversible negative impacts on the ecological environment, as well as proposing the strategies for the future construction of the city. It suggests how to build digital nomad-friendly cities from the economic, ecological and social perspectives.